Taking Sides on Shiny Pokémon

Anyone who has been "around the block" with Pokémon like me for long enough know that Pokémon can appear in their original colors or a different color, the latter being their Shiny form. I've written a bit about topics on Shiny Pokémon, and this post would constitute another one. For this one, the deal with Shiny Pokémon is that it may leave some people ambivalent about them compared to others, based on different sides. I've gathered a few of these different sides for discussion of their two ends.

First up is their importance. For some people, they can become important or unimportant. It may be the former for some people because they've collected many Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Go, for example, or the latter because they've had not much luck in encountering them in the same game. Personally, outside of Community Day, I fall into the latter camp, but when the event comes, I become part of the former. I suppose many who play Pokémon Go will be like this as well, depending on which ones have been collected. The value of their importance seems to tie into their standing in different situations and availability.

In line with their importance, Shiny Pokémon may be considered necessary or optional. Something that ties into this is their appearance - some Shiny Pokémon don't look too different from their normal kin, which then may lead to the consideration of being optional. The ones that do become necessary for some, then, are the ones that look radically different. Appearance then becomes a kind of value for those really considering it, although for quite a few people, any Shiny form is necessary regardless of appearance. Those who consider them optional may simply be just uninterested.

There's actually another side to the appearance consideration, and that is whether Shiny Pokémon are pretty or not so pretty. For this one, "different" doesn't always mean "pretty", of course, but some people may regard one differently from another. Shiny Kyogre, for example, is purple, but this could be a bit much for some people, while others simply welcome it. On the other hand, Shiny Mewtwo might seem a bit too green for some people, but others may regard it as a pretty counterpoint to the common purple Mewtwo. Clearly, the appeal factor may be different from one person to another.

Shiny Pokémon themselves are a different side to normal Pokémon. Even with them as a different side, some people may regard them in a different two-sided way. It's hard not to when they seem so different, even very much so among different perceptions. I'm sure as more and more people become exposed to Shiny Pokémon, they'll continue to take sides and shift among those sides as their perceptions and relationships with them change.

One year ago: Raid Time Length Change
Two years ago: Competitive Stages in Shuffle